It took a couple of weeks for Sheldon to get back into their regular coitus routine, which left Amy stressed and exhausted at first.
But she remained patient as always, and Sheldon finally managed to get over what had happened.
Of course, he'd never forget, but he had gotten over it now, and was back to his newfound romantic ways, more or less.
Yet, Amy still seemed stressed.
Things at the Fitzpatrick Marine Biology Facility were getting intense as the workload piled up. Sheldon, although home-commuting, was finally on his way to a breakthrough, and he was working hard too, so they'd only get weekends to relax.
Amy would come home and be so stressed out and tired, that Sheldon would happily take care of her and prepare dinner, go down to the restaurant or order takeout for them both.
By bedtime, Amy would be recovered and more relaxed, so that she and Sheldon could fool around.
They were both adapting to Scooby and his demands, although he didn't really have many.
He mostly kept to himself, unless he wanted some attention or food or walkies.
One particular afternoon, Amy came home in a foul mood, dumping her bag on the table and throwing herself on the couch.
Sheldon stared at her.
After a moment, he realized that she probably needed to talk, and got to his feet, wandering over to the couch and sitting beside Amy.
"What's troubling you?" He asked.
"Nothing." She replied, huffily.
"Your body language suggests otherwise." Sheldon replied, softly, scooting closer and placing a comforting hand on her waist. "Tell me."
Amy sighed. "They let Soleil and Capri go back into the ocean." She said, sadly.
Sheldon bit his lip.
Amy had become very close to the bottlenose dolphin and her cheeky calf, and she had been the one who recognized the problem and was able to help cure it.
It had helped her research so much, and back home, UCLA had received her paper and been so impressed with it, that they had offered her an award, which she was to collect on her return to LA.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Sheldon replied gently. "But you could have saved her life, doing what you did."
Amy nodded. "She saved mine…She taught me a lot of things, and won me an award…But she began to feel like my own pet in a way." Amy blinked and a single tear ran down her face.
Sheldon remembered something from a while ago;
Amy had hugged him when he was upset about Kripke, hadn't she?
In fact, she had hugged him every time he had been upset…
He scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her, letting her bury her head in his shoulder.
He felt a wet patch where she was crying, but didn't even flinch.
After a while, Amy pulled away. "I'm sorry. I'm being so stupid."
"No you're not." Sheldon replied, "You're the smartest person I know…Besides myself."
Amy smiled weakly.
Sheldon stood up and switched the kettle on, making some chamomile tea.
He brought it back over and offered it to Amy. "Hot beverage…Because you're upset." He said.
Amy thanked him and took the drink, taking a sip. "Thank you for taking care of me, Sheldon."
"I'm your husband. I have to take care of you." He replied, simply. "On top of that, I love you and don't like seeing you upset."
Amy smiled and kissed him.
Scooby had sensed Amy's sadness, and wandered over with his tail down, and big, sad eyes.
Giving a little whine, he laid his head on Amy's leg.
"Aww. Thank you Scooby; at least I know I have my boys at home to look after me. I love you both." She fondled Scooby's floppy ears, and gave Sheldon another kiss.
Scooby took it upon himself to climb onto the furniture, and sat on Amy's lap.
"Oof! You're heavy, Scoobs!" She grumbled. "Be careful!"
Sheldon laughed. "Aww, he wants to cuddle his mommy!"
Amy blinked and looked up at Sheldon.
"What did you say?"
"I said…I said he wants to cuddle up with his mommy. Was that offensive?" Sheldon frowned, confused.
"No…But you were talking as if he's our child." Amy laughed uncomfortably.
"He might as well be." Sheldon shrugged, "Scooby, off the furniture please. You'll track dirt all over the nice sofa."
Scooby made a huffing noise before reluctantly jumping onto the floor, and trotting away, haughtily.
Sheldon and Amy laughed at his antics.
"Oh well, if he's not going to speak to us, maybe he doesn't want the bath that we scheduled for him. What a shame…I guess we'll have to change his entire routine!" Sheldon said loudly, only to then have Scooby race back into the room, jumping up excitedly.
Amy was nearly breathless with laughter.
"I thought that might change your mind," Sheldon chuckled to the dog. "You and I are too alike, young man. I know what grinds your gears!"
Sheldon and Amy entered the bathroom, and ran the water, adding some special doggy bubble bath.
Scooby leapt in, spraying Sheldon and Amy with water, and sat patiently, waiting to be shampooed.
Amy took the jug and filled it with water, carefully soaking Scooby before adding the dog shampoo.
Sheldon added some shampoo to the dog's head, and made a 'horn' on his forehead out of wet fur, which caused him and Amy to all into a fit of hysterics and taking a photo, whilst Scooby just eyed them, clearly displeased.
Once Scooby was rinsed and dry, Sheldon and Amy took it in turns to shower before getting changed to go to the restaurant.
Stopping at the door, they both turned around.
"Behave yourself." Sheldon grinned to Scooby, who was 'watching TV' from his basket.
..
Once seated in the restaurant, Amy fell silent.
Sheldon didn't seem to notice, as he scanned the menu and complained about a noisy table containing a family from New York and their rowdy teenage sons.
Sheldon frowned, as he noticed Amy biting her nails, hardly paying attention.
"So anyway, that's when I decided to stop being a theoretical physicist and become a male stripper-gram." He said.
"What?" Amy blinked, turning to stare at him in shock.
"Bazinga!" Sheldon grinned as Amy smiled and rolled her eyes. "But that got your attention! Seriously Amy, is something else troubling you?"
"No." Amy shook her head and looked down at the menu.
A waitress came by and took their order, returning moments later with their drinks, before disappearing again.
"Amy…If…If there was something else troubling you, you would tell me wouldn't you?" Sheldon asked, after a while of seeing Amy shift uncomfortably.
"Of course I would." She nodded.
"Okay…You're not considering a divorce are you?"
"What? No! No way! Oh God Sheldon, I'm sorry, my head is all over the place at the moment." Amy sighed.
"Why?" Sheldon asked, taking her hand. "I know I'm not the best person to talk to about emotional things, but I'm trying; I'm getting there. And I'm your husband…I'm here for you."
"I know, and thank you." Amy smiled, leaning back and resting her hands on her stomach.
Sheldon frowned. "Stomach ache?"
"Yeah…Period pain." Amy whispered.
"Oh…Didn't you come off that like a week ago?"
"Yes but I've been experiencing it still. I need to get my birth control changed, I think. This is doing nothing for me."
"What!?" Sheldon spluttered.
"Oh no, no…I mean…It's causing problems." Amy said, hurriedly.
"Like what?" Sheldon asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I don't know…Just ongoing bleeding, menstrual cramps, stress, fatigue…The usual." Amy replied.
"So no nausea then?"
"No. It never causes nausea." Amy shook her head.
At that moment, the waitress returned with their meals, wishing them a good evening and that they have a nice meal.
Sheldon and Amy thanked her as she walked away.
Amy seemed glad of a distraction, and tucked into her food.
Sheldon watched her carefully as he ate slowly.
Something wasn't right.
He bit his lip.
"You…You haven't decided to re-visit our problem from two weeks ago, have you?" He asked.
"What problem?" Amy asked, frowning.
"You know, when I went to the police…" Sheldon reminded.
"Oh God no! Sheldon, no…Never! I already spoke to you about this anyway; I'd never do that to you. Look it's nothing. I'm just stressed and tired from work, my pill isn't working and Soleil and Capri got released into the wild today. I'm a little all over the place." Amy reassured.
Sheldon sighed. "Okay." He said, trying to concentrate on his meal.
..
As the couple returned to their room that night, Sheldon had pushed the conversation to the back of his mind, and now they were talking about Skyping with Leonard and Penny.
Amy had relaxed, and was coming on to him as soon as they entered the suite.
"Let me just go to the bathroom and I'll be right with you." Sheldon promised, as they broke their kiss.
He locked the bathroom door and used the toilet.
As he flushed and washed his hands, he glanced up at the mirror, only to notice his hair sticking out at odd angles, where Amy had run her hands through it.
Remembering Leonard's advice from the wedding, he pondered whether or not he should add some wax and make his hair spikier, like it had been on his and Amy's wedding day.
He opened the cupboard, and located the wax, which was on top of a load of other items.
"I see no organizational schematic in this cupboard." He sighed, as he pulled the tub out, knocking everything underneath it out in the process.
Bending down to retrieve the dropped items, he found a two-week blister of pills, with only one missing.
He frowned, turning them over to read the foil.
Altavera.
He frowned.
'I'm sure I know that name…'
Sure enough, he did, gasping in realization as it hit him.
'Altavera is a contraceptive pill!'
Which also raised the question…"Why hasn't she taken it?"
He shakily walked out of the bathroom, and Amy turned to smile at him.
"Took your time, handsome," She purred, "What took you so long?"
Sheldon held up the blister. "These fell out while I was retrieving the hair wax…"
Amy swallowed.
"You haven't taken it in thirteen days…We've been having coitus." Sheldon said, quietly.
"I know…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." Amy replied, matching his tone.
"Are…Are we trying?" Sheldon asked.
Amy just looked up at him, unable to speak.
Swallowing again, she slowly shook her head.
"There wouldn't be much point." She whispered.
Sheldon lowered the arm that was holding up the pills, slowly, still staring at Amy with concern…
..
A/N: You have been struck by the evil cliffhanger. Here's where I go off the grid for a month and leave you all wallowing in confusion as it slowly drives you insane…MUAHAHAHAHAHA! ;) I joke of course! Tonight's Big Bang episode sent chills down my spine; it was so sweet and perfect and…Just aww, the feels! Love the Shamy so much, and now they're that much closer to…Yeah. (SPOILER ALERT) Anyway; feel free to guess what happens next, and I shall update tomorrow…Maybe…Who knows? ;) – NO FLAMES, PLEASE!
Thanks for reading and reviewing.